The Labor Force Keeps Shrinking and Shrinking

The jobs report for June was released today, and it shows that the unemployment rate is now 5.3 percent — the lowest it has been since 2008. The economy also added 223,000 jobs. However, the reason the unemployment rate keeps dropping isn’t so sunny: The number of people in the workforce — 62.9 percent participation rate — is the lowest it’s been since October 1977; teenagers seem to be having a particularly difficult time finding jobs. Once you give up looking for a job, you stop counting as unemployed in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ eyes. Another disappointing data point: Wages still aren’t increasing, which means that while jobs keep getting added, they might not be the kind that make Americans feel like the economy isimproving.